Perception holds a place in everyone’s mind. The way we’re looked at by others is a point of reflection many try not to think about. Northern Irish-Canadian artist Clare Samuel focused on these challenging topics in her contemplative exhibit, “A disturbance in the air.”

“A disturbance in the air” was a moving image portraiture centered around the idea of reflection — both literally and figuratively. The exhibit featured three screens showing moving images and two posters with the definitions of two words: behold and appear.

Two screens showed over thirty women adjusting their hair and clothes and touching their faces, almost as if they were feeling their faces for the first time.

“I first had the idea of women doing these micro-adjustments that we do to our face, and our hair all the time,” Samuel said. “Sort of constantly monitoring or preparing our appearance to be seen.”

It was fascinating to see women make the micro-adjustments seen in everyday life. In addition to these adjustments, Samuel was inspired by seeing a documentary about a blind artist.

“Seeing the way she felt someone’s face when she met them, I started giving [the women] the instruction to feel their own faces as if they were drawing a picture of [their faces] in their mind,” Samuel said.

She encouraged her portraits to unfocus their eyes, lending them a thoughtful or distant expression, and not to smile, because she wanted the viewers to focus on the slow movements of their hands.

While the two screens focused on portraiture, the third focused on moving images. Specifically, moving images of reflective surfaces such as water and the glass windows of a building. All shot in Samuel’s hometown of Toronto.

“I wanted it to be this idea that light is bouncing off things all the time, and there are so many, many different reflective surfaces,” Samuel said. “And how many times you will incidentally see yourself reflected in the glass, and how you engage with that.”

Since the exhibit mostly focused on moving images, viewing the two stagnant posters displayed on the wall with the words “behold” and “appear,” along with their respective definitions allowed for a contrast of consistency.

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In addition to being a moving image sensory experience for the eyes, there were also the added sounds of bird noises, insects, and subtle sirens which further drew the viewer into the experience. The more you watched, the more it felt like looking in the mirror.

Attendees at the exhibit were attentive and stayed very still, almost as if the slightest movement would break the spell of serenity and reflection.

“When installations are quiet, there are different ways they draw you in,” attendee Riley Hanick observed.

For Hanick, the themes of nature in Samuel’s piece intrigued him. In a different approach, attendee Riel Sturchio found the exhibit hopeful.

“It makes me think more of how I can intentionally see the world around me,” Sturchio said.

That was Samuel’s intention. She wanted her viewers to have an emotional experience and even installed reflective paper on the windows to block natural lighting and bring the viewers closer to the exhibit.

“[I want people to reflect] on how they see themselves being seen by other people,” Samuel encouraged.